Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-10-14

CANADA.
ST. HYACINTHE, Lower Canada.
Sent. ~. 1887

ST. HYACINTHE. Lower Canada.
Sept. p, 1887.
1t is splendid title that we give. In
all the years of America there are none
whose luster is greater. more brilliant or
more lasting than that of Lower Canada.
Like Louisiana, a home of the French
the French language over large extent
is universal. There are French manners
and French customs, and the life is that
of the French, frugal and satisfied with
little: but the fertility of the land. its
extraordinary strength and productive
ness, was a revelation to me. | have al
ways wondered that the French should
have settled in Canada where the winter
arrives so quick and remains so long but
when one sees the fertile plains of which
it Is composed. country level as fair
Turaine, and of eXhaustless romance,
washed by the mighty river that sweeps
with so great power from the lakes to the
ocean. he can realize why those settlers
who first came here went no further, but
stayed with that land which attracted
with so much power. For better or for
worse they lit, and to-day vast stretches
of these plains are turned into fertile
fields, strong to yield and to support a
hardy and contented people. Luxury
may not come here much. The North
with its eXacting rules may prevent that,
but in all there is enough and to spare.
There are great tracts of marsh and
woods. much of which is being cleared.
In the cleared country it is one vast plain
of farms. These are divided into long
narrow strips, a mile and a half long by
perhaps One-eighth of a mile wide.
fenced. and pastured now with cows and
cattle and horses. As in France. all seem
thrifty. The dwellings of the people are
not expensive, most of them quite mod
crate, but they seem to answer every en-
pectation as well as every want. 1t makes
little difference whether one lives in how
ell or in pdldis, if the hovel is all that one
wants. | use the word hovel instead of
hut. but | mean by it low and plain
building. Everything is neat here and
homelike. after the French pattern. The
barns are all plain, rough-boarded, I'M
painted, not specially large. Roads must
be muddy when it rains and in spring,
except those that are macadamized. and
they are rough. Cattle look well; so do
the sheep and horses. Villages are very
like those of France. They are numer-
Gus and of good size and have their ca
thedrals and converts and schools. The
public buildings are well built and this
town is one of the finest places in Ameri-
ca; many handsome residences and we'll
built streets. The French language is
universal. large proportion unable to
talk English. French literature is COM
mon: newspapers published in Montreal,
Quebec and every town of this size.
reached Montreal by the night train !;
stopped there at the Windsor. 1t is Il
great town, they tell me, 215,000 people.
1t certainly spreads over much ground,
though | shouldn't suppose it to be SO
large as this. The great lakes have their
outlet past here to the ocean. The mighty
St Lawrence forces it way towards the
north; swift and silent, and that silence
is the more impressive because it has TO
contend with a power that binds it for
months.
Montreal looks like city of the North
Its buildings are low and solid; its
streets quiet. 1t is, however, an import
ant city, and if only winter navigation
could be had, would rival any on this
continent.
From Montreal | went to Chambly,
then to st. Cesaire and from there here.
Quite share of the way have come by
team. | met here tonight citizen who
is laboring under the delusion that Cana
da is different from America. OF course
he is an anomaly. | suppose at one time
there may have existed some one who
thought that the Empire which the little
Napoleon started in Mexico under Max
imilian amounted to something. The
great majority here are Americans. Soon
err or later all European interference
with Canada will end, when she will shape
her own destiny to suit herself. The
plans of Empire of whatever kind indulg-
ed in by those who lived in England will
be as futile as were those in Mexico by
those who lived in France. 1t is great
er power, the laws of nature, that guides
the destinies of this continent The least
that the outside world can do is to let it